I'm an associate editor at Forbes, part of the team responsible for our signature issues: The Forbes 400, Global Billionaires and America's Richest Families. As a writer, I cover these wealthy business builders as well as other entrepreneurs. Before Forbes, I also reported on entrepreneurs for Inc. magazine, and attended Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Both BlackBerry Founders Are Gone Now. Could Either Become A Billionaire Again?

The two Canadian fellows who founded BlackBerry, and then watched their company crash, were always, famously, different. Jim Balsillie, tall and lean, managed the finances. Mike Lazaridis, shorter and stocky, was the geek–having spent a childhood summer reading every science book available at his local library–credited with creating the first smartphones. They were apart even at the company’s Waterloo, Canada, headquarters, at which they kept offices in separate buildings.

For a time, their fortunes were among the only things that intertwined the men. They founded the company, then called Research in Motion, in 1984, in southern Ontario province near Toronto. The BlackBerry smartphones delighted the business elite with simple software and easy-to-use keyboards. The company’s stock skyrocketed, reaching $230 a share in August 2007. It turned the pair into billionaires. Their fortunes, by FORBES’ careful measure, peaked the following spring, when each man was worth more than $3 billion.

By 2012, both fell off our roll of world billionaires. Why? Apple mostly. By then, Apple was shipping tens of millions of iPhones each quarter, and BlackBerry handsets seemed old and inflexible. Later, Google-based Android phones chipped away further at BlackBerry’s market share and lackluster innovation attempts limited the company’s competitive abilities. The PlayBook tablet, for example, was mostly unimpressive and couldn’t wedge its way into a market controlled by Apple and Amazon.com. Result: a long, long fall in share price to a bottom reached only last year of $6.70 a share. The downward spiral cost Lazaridis and Balsillie more than money (both are still centi-millionaires). They stepped down as co-CEOs last year, replaced by a little known company insider. Both continued as directors.

Today, their wealth, and the prospect for replenishing it, is separate too. Balsillie, 52, stepped down from the board a few months after being replaced as CEO. Then, he dumped his entire stake in BlackBerry, a signal to some that the founder had lost confidence in BlackBerry. Balsillie sold 26.9 million shares at $11.80, making $317.5 million. By contrast, Lazaridis, who is only now leaving the board, remains the company’s second largest shareholder with 29.7 million shares (5.7% of BlackBerry), a position worth $442 million.

Balsillie’s sale makes it quite unlikely he could become a billionaire again, short of founding a new company. Lazaridis, 52, leaves his fortune in the hands of the new CEO, Thorsten Heins. Lazaridis has already been richly rewarded for his patience. BlackBerry stock has doubled in six months, as the company launched its new BB10 operating system. The stock would need to double again, and then some, for him to reach 10-figure status. To be specific, shares need to hit $33.60 for that to happen.

Possible, but seems a difficult feat. Even the most bullish on Wall Street don’t have price targets set above $22 a share.

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I’ll remind you that no one like a train wreck or accident. Yet, we always slow down to watch them. And “Everyone keeps visiting”?… Really? like who?… Hardly anyone reads Forbes anymore. And when they do, its to correct you on the nonsense you spew out to the unknowing public. These are Q1 profits. For them to show even a hint of profit after losing a million subscribers shows how wrong you have been regarding their future. I’m not so foolish to think the stock would nor will skyrocket after the launch of the Z10. BlackBerry has always been a gradual climb to the top. They never had the lines around the block like Apple. Primarily because most of their sales have been online sales, which somehow you guys never want to report. BlackBerry wont truly prove their profits till beginning of Q3. 6 devices are set to be released this year… 6!… I think they’ll be just fine.

Check the news feed, so far Forbes has posted 4 BlackBerry bashing articles today. What the hell is going on at Forbes? Who is giving the orders to smear BlackBerry. I’d be very careful. It doesnt take much to request an media enquiry. Clearly someone has a substantial piece of an Apple.

I’ve followed RIMM since the email patent lawsuit, a decade ago, where they owed $400M+ and royalties. I owned it from $112 down to $90 and cashed back out at $120+ before it headed to an all-time high of $147. It NEVER hit $230 cause after the $147 it split and was in the $70′s/$80′s until it went to the $30′s and eventually single digits. As for Balsillie becoming a billionaire, why not? The guy cashed out $300M+ worth and even if he was left with half of that after taxes he’ll be a billionaire if given enough time. A quick rule of 72…8% return means his investment doubles every 9yrs. $150M-300M-600M-1.2B(36yrs later). Whether this stock hits $33, I’m doubtful, I’ll wait till the FINANCIALS support the BB10 series not the hype that proceeds it. Remember Palm and its Pre…stock went from $6 to $14 on its hype only to be bought out by HP after falling 50%. I certainly don’t see $40 as Eric Jackson was hyping, a few months ago.